Stents and stent delivery assemblies are utilized in a number of medical procedures. As such, their general structure and function are well known. Stents are generally cylindrical prostheses introduced, via a catheter, into a lumen of a body vessel. Typically, the stent is secured to the catheter in a configuration having a generally reduced diameter for transport and delivery. Once the stent is positioned at a desired location in a target vessel it is deployed by expanding the stent to the diameter of the target vessel. In its expanded configuration, the stent supports and reinforces the vessel walls while maintaining the vessel in an open, unobstructed condition.
Balloon expandable stents are well known and widely available in a variety of designs, diameters and configurations. Balloon expandable stents are crimped to their reduced diameter about a delivery catheter, then maneuvered to the deployment site and expanded to the vessel diameter by inflation of a balloon positioned between the stent and the delivery catheter.
During advancement of the stent through a body vessel to a deployment site, the crimped stent must securely maintain its axial position on the delivery catheter. That is, the crimped stent must not slide proximally or distally along the catheter during advancement, and especially must not dislodge from the catheter. Stents that are not properly crimped, secured or retained to the delivery catheter may slip thereby becoming lost, damaged, deployed in the wrong location or only partially deployed.
Therefore, techniques have been developed to test the tensile force required to dislodge the balloon and catheter from the crimped stent. Although such stent securement tests are generally known, there are continued efforts to develop improved stent securement testing devices and techniques.